Pianist Natasha Paremski to perform Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 with ESO April 1-2
Elgin Symphony Orchestra audience favorite, pianist Natasha Paremski, returns to perform Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, led by music director Andrew Grams, on April 1-2 at the Hemmens Cultural Center in Elgin.
Paremski has been compared to the greatest pianists of our time, including Martha Argerich. She will perform the dazzling Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3, considered one of the most technically difficult works in the repertoire.
The piece, featured in the major motion picture "Shine," was Rachmaninoff's favorite piano concerto. An accomplished pianist, he gave the world premiere of the work himself on Nov. 28, 1909 with the New York Symphony Society.
The ESO concerts April 1-2 also hold Brahms' monumental Symphony No. 4, with the final movement featuring an astonishing 30 variations of the opening melody. Tickets start at only $30. Student tickets are $12. For concert tickets, call (847) 888-4000 or visit ElginSymphony.org. There is convenient free parking or valet service.
Music Director Andrew Grams will give a preconcert chat one hour before the concert and Saturday concertgoers are invited after the performance to "Mingle with the Musicians "at the Elgin Public House. Music Historian Jim Kendros will give a free Listeners Club lecture about the upcoming concerts at 1 p.m. Wednesday, March 29, at the Gail Borden Public Library, 270 N. Grove Ave. in Elgin. For more information, see gailborden.info/events.
The American Record Guide declared, "Comparisons with Argerich should not be given lightly, but Paremski is so clearly of the same temperament and technique that it is unavoidable here." With her consistently striking and dynamic performances, pianist Natasha Paremski reveals astounding virtuosity and voracious interpretive abilities. She continues to generate excitement from all corners as she wins over audiences with her musical sensibility and flawless technique.
Born in Moscow, Paremski moved to the United States at the age of 8 and became a U.S. citizen shortly thereafter. She is now based in New York. She was awarded several very prestigious artist prizes at a very young age, including the Gilmore Young Artists prize in 2006 at the age of 18, the Prix Montblanc in 2007, the Orpheum Stiftung Prize in Switzerland. In September 2010, she was awarded the Classical Recording Foundation's Young Artist of the Year. Her first recital album was released in 2011 and it debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard Traditional Classical chart. In 2012 she recorded Tchaikovsky's first concerto and Rachmaninoff's Paganini Rhapsody with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Fabien Gabel on the orchestra's label distributed by Naxos.
Paremski has performed with major orchestras in North America including Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Houston Symphony, NAC Orchestra in Ottawa, Nashville Symphony, Virginia Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Colorado Symphony, and Minnesota Orchestra. She tours extensively in Europe with such orchestras as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Vienna's Tonkünstler Orchester, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Orchestre de Bretagne, the Orchestre de Nancy, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchester in Zurich, Moscow Philharmonic, under the direction of conductors including Peter Oundjian, Andres Orozco-Estrada, Jeffrey Kahane, James Gaffigan, Dmitri Yablonski, Tomas Netopil, JoAnn Falletta, Fabien Gabel, and Andrew Litton. Ms. Paremski has toured with Gidon Kremer and the Kremerata Baltica in Latvia, Benelux, the UK and Austria and performed with the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra in Taipei.
Paremski has given recitals at London's Wigmore Hall, the Auditorium du Louvre in Paris, Schloss Elmau, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, Verbier Festival, Seattle's Meany Hall, Kansas City's Harriman Jewell Series, Santa Fe's Lensic Theater, Ludwigshafen BASF Series, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Tokyo's Musashino Performing Arts Center and on the Rising Stars Series of Gilmore and Ravinia Festivals.
With a strong focus on new music, Paremski's growing repertoire reflects an artistic maturity beyond her years. In the 2010-11 season, she played the world premiere of a sonata written for her by Gabriel Kahane, which was also included in her solo album. At the suggestion of John Corigliano, Paremski brought her insight and depth to his Piano Concerto with the Colorado Symphony. In recital, she has played several pieces by noted composer and pianist Fred Hersch.
Paremski continues to extend her performance activity and range beyond the traditional concert hall. In December 2008, she was the featured pianist in choreographer Benjamin Millepied's Danse Concertantes at New York's Joyce Theater. She was featured in a major two-part film for BBC Television on the life and work of Tchaikovsky, shot on location in St. Petersburg, performing excerpts from Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto and other works. In the winter of 2007, Paremski participated along with Simon Keenlyside and Maxim Vengerov in the filming of "Twin Spirits," a project starring Sting and Trudie Styler that explores the music and writing of Robert and Clara Schumann, which was released on DVD. She has performed in the project live several times with the co-creators in New York and the U.K., directed by John Caird, the original director/adapter of the musical "Les Misérables."
Paremski began her piano studies at the age of 4 with Nina Malikova at Moscow's Andreyev School of Music. She then studied at San Francisco Conservatory of Music before moving to New York to study with Pavlina Dokovska at Mannes College of Music, from which she graduated in 2007.
Paremski made her professional debut at age nine with the El Camino Youth Symphony in California. At the age of 15, she debuted with Los Angeles Philharmonic and recorded two discs with Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra under Dmitry Yablonsky, the first featuring Anton Rubinstein's Piano Concerto No. 4 coupled with Rachmaninoff's Paganini Rhapsody and the second featuring all of Chopin's shorter works for piano and orchestra.
With a unique combination of intensity, enthusiasm and technical clarity, American conductor Andrew Grams has steadily built a reputation for his dynamic concerts and long-term orchestra building. He is the winner of 2015 Conductor of the Year from the Illinois Council of Orchestras and has led orchestras throughout the United States including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Detroit Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Dallas Symphony, and the Houston Symphony. Grams served as assistant conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra from 2004-2007 where he worked under the guidance of Franz Welser-Möst, and has since returned for several engagements.
2016-2017 marks Mr. Grams' fourth season as music director of the Elgin Symphony Orchestra. Born in Severn, Maryland, Grams began studying the violin when he was eight years old. In 1999, he received a bachelor of music in violin performance from The Juilliard School, and in 2003 he received a conducting degree from the Curtis Institute of Music where he studied with Otto-Werner Mueller. He was selected to spend the summer of 2003 studying with David Zinman, Murry Sidlin and Michael Stern at the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen and returned to that program again in 2004. To learn more about Andrew Grams, visit andrewgrams.com and www.instagram.com/andrewhgrams/.
Now in its 66th season, the ESO offers programming unmatched for an entertaining, informative and relaxing cultural experience. The ESO has won Illinois Professional Orchestra of the Year an unprecedented four times - in 1988, 1999, 2005 and 2016. The ESO works to create an enjoyable entertainment experience that goes beyond the magnificent music performed by some of the best musicians in the region. Area student musicians often perform in the lobby before concerts and patrons can purchase gifts at the Elgin Symphony League Boutique. Preconcert chats are given by Andrew Grams, guest artists and others one hour before most performances and Saturday night patrons are invited after concerts to "Mingle with the Musicians" at the Elgin Public House. In addition, free Listeners Club lecture/discussions presented by music historian Jim Kendros are offered before ESO concert weekends at 1 p.m. Wednesdays at the Gail Borden Public Library.
Flex passes are available for purchase so that you can choose your concerts at a later date based on your own schedule. And if a patron can't make a concert, the ESO offers free exchanges to subscribers and to single ticket buyers for a $5 fee. There is accessible, free parking around the Hemmens Cultural Center and valet service available.
The ESO is a world-class orchestra providing quality musical explorations that are entertaining, hassle-free and conveniently located close to home in the western suburbs. For more information, see ElginSymphony.org.